From the Niagara Falls Review:
Some “exceptions” to Premier Dalton McGuinty’s 2009 rule requiring all government contracts to be subject to competitive bids allowed Niagara’s tourism agency to spend $500,000 on an untendered contract to publish a promotional magazine, says Tourism Minister Michael Chan.
“There are exceptions in terms of single-source procurement,” Chan said Wednesday in Niagara Falls where reporters asked him why the new tourism organization — created by the Liberals in 2009 — was allowed to commission a promotional magazine without seeking competitive bids from other publishers.
Regional To u r i s m Organization No. 2 — a new agency responsible for promoting Niagara’s tourism offerings — in May hired Rev Publishing, a Niagara Falls publishing company to print 500,000 copies of “Niagara Today,” a 96-page “destination magazine” to promote the region’s tourism options.
Chan’s ministry approved the expenditure by the organization’s “transitional” board, led by Joel Noden, a former Niagara Parks Commission executive, who said they didn’t have time for a “proper” tender if they wanted the magazine out in time to influence vacationers’ 2010 travel plans.